Baldur's Gate 3's Patch 7 tweaked one of the game's most brutal scenes to twist the knife even more

One thing I was particularly curious about in the lead-up to Baldur's Gate 3's mondo-big Patch 7 was its change to Alfira, a fairly significant side-character and quest-giver. In the lead-up to release, Larian mentioned that Alfira would be able to level up and even respec with Withers, raising questions about her storyline and how it intersects with one of BG3's origin paths in particular. In brief: Don't go crazy, she's not a full companion now or anything. Spoilers for Baldur's Gate 3 Act 1 and The Dark Urge below.

The Dark Urge is my favorite way to play BG3: You can still customize your avatar and even choose to be a good guy⁠—the «most heroic» story in the game, according to its lead writer⁠—while seeing new or alternate scenes and getting a more personal hook in the plot. The only trade-off is the story getting quite a bit darker overall, with one unavoidable scene in particular setting the tone for the rest of the game.

If you're playing Dark Urge, a peppy bard will die during one of your Act 1 long rests. Usually it's Alfira, but she also has a potential stand-in, Quil Grootslang, a dragonborn bard who otherwise only shows up in optional dialogue and a letter in Act 3. If Alfira's somehow unavailable for her big moment, Quil has to take the fall.

There's no saving throw, skill check, or alternate path to let you avoid some form of bard brutalization, but me and fellow fans of good guy Dark Urge playthroughs (The Dork Urge)—or Durges who just want Alfira's spiffy Potent Robe quest reward in Act 2—have an old mariner's trick to make sure Quil shows up for the fated long rest. You can render Alfira unconscious with nonlethal attacks just before the long rest that triggers her murder: She'll be unavailable as far as the game logic is concerned, and you'll be sent Quil instead. It's still a gut punch of a scene, and Quil is an endearing, tragic figure in her own right, but you can preserve Alfira's role in the story and see her happy ending.

Quil's version of